Steven Edward Logback

Tuesday

Oct 3, 2017 at 6:13 PMOct 3, 2017 at 6:13 PM

MANHATTAN — Steven Edward Logback, 49, associate vice president of communications and marketing at Kansas State University, passed away unexpectedly Sept. 28, 2017. He was born the youngest of three children Nov. 29, 1967 to James and the late Francis (Boyd) Logback of Hill City. His siblings, Frank Logback of Lenexa, and Lydia (Logback) Graham of Van Alystne, Texas, were positive he got away with everything.

Steve graduated from Hill City High School in 1986 and didn’t hesitate to attend his beloved Kansas State University where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. As a fourth generation graduate, he received his degree in journalism in 1990. While serving on a search panel a few years later, Steve knew immediately he had met his future wife Donna (Yeager) Logback during her interview and lobbied for her to receive the position she ultimately took; they were married 11 months later on April 30, 1993. His closest friends often remarked that it must be true love for him to have married a Jayhawk. Together they were blessed with two children, Elizabeth Jean Logback, 21, and Logan Edward Logback, 17.

The call of the Wildcat was too strong, so Steve moved the couple back to Manhattan where he worked at Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Press Association, Kansas State Alumni Association, and Kansas State University. An active community member, Steve believed as the long line of Boyd family members before him that “community service is the rent you pay for the privilege of living on this earth.” He was a past president of Solar Kiwanis Club and the Manhattan Boys and Girls Club, Chair of the Riley County Police Department Community Advisory Board, served on the Board of Directors for the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development, was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Manhattan High School Booster Club, Manhattan High School Performing Arts Support Group, the Friday Football Luncheon Gang, and a lifetime member of the Kansas State Alumni Association.

Steve had a ferocious appetite for obtaining and sharing knowledge, reading any newspaper he could get his hands on cover to cover, graduating from Leadership Manhattan and the Flint Hills Regional Leadership Program, beginning his graduate studies, serving as a mentor through the K-State College of Business Administration and as an adjunct instructor at the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Steve was a youth sports coach through the Manhattan Parks and Recreation Department for over a decade, the assistant coach for the Manhattan Titans, and a vocal supporter during any of his kids’ and their friends numerous sporting and school events. He loved to take the kids and their friends anywhere and everywhere — especially if it included fishing. Steve couldn’t understand why more people didn’t consult the K-State athletic schedule when planning events, lobbied for the local cable affiliates to carry more of the games, and planned elaborate bowl trips for all the family to enjoy. While his running days had slowed down, he never stopped telling the tale of his high school 4 x 400 state track championship win where he was spiked and ran without his shoe.

Steve never knew a stranger, and as an avid storyteller, would talk and share until whatever event you were at was long completed. He loved to be Santa Claus for the neighborhood children, got a kick out of spooking the trick or treaters on Halloween, and being the Kansas Farm Bureau mascot, which he created, “Freddy the Farm Bureau Combine”. As a bit of a prankster, his dry sense of humor was often played out on April Fool’s Day, his favorite day of the year. He bought from every kid who knocked on the door, was quick with a smile and helping hand, always made sure everyone was well hydrated, and often provided nicknames to the younger siblings of his children’s friends. He loved being surrounded by all the nieces and nephews and ensured everyone received a gift from ‘Purple Santa’ prior to a bowl game. He was the driver and part time mechanic of his purple bus, “Cat Scratch Fever” which was always ready for tailgating when the parking lot opened, was a common site in local parades and often on the back of the tow truck.

He was famous for ensuring any merchant who had the audacity to display K-State next to any other university got a thorough rearranging before he left the store; often ensuring the K-State books lined the front of the shelves, redressing mannequins into K-State gear, and leaving Power Cat stickers and emblems wherever he went!

A lover of animals, he hated to see them in pain or danger and often picked up turtles from the highway, fed stray cats, used safe traps and released whatever creature was living in the back yard to nearby fields and when asked to help with spiders in the house always commented, “Can’t we all just get along?!”.

Visitation will be 4-6:30 p.m. today, Oct. 4, at the First United Methodist Church, Manhattan. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 5 at the church, with burial immediately following at Sunrise Cemetery.

A memorial for the Steve Logback Wildcat Way Scholarship has been established at the Kansas State Foundation. Contributions may be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, 66502.